The purpose of this blog is to report the different learning experiences in studies about an Open PhD focused on open learning. The different topics featured are: Educational Research, Educational Technology and Media, Educational Startup, Instructional Design, Open Education and learning

Monday, January 2, 2012

Statistics in Descriptive Research

The description of a sample implies that a researcher defines variables, measures them, and for each measure calculates one or more of the following descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of variability. Measures of central tendency are: mean, median and mode. Measures of variability are: standard deviation, variance and range. The researcher can also calculate the derived scores which help interpreting the sample's scores on the variables that were measured. Derived scores aid the interpretation by providing a quantitative measure of each individual's performance relative to a comparison group. Age equivalents, grade equivalents, percentiles, and standard scores are examples of derived scores commonly used in descriptive research.

Some descriptive research provide statistical information about aspects of education that interest policy makers and educators. This type of research is the specialty of the National Center for Education Statistics. Many of this center's research results are published in an annual volume called the Digest of Educational Statistics. This center also administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which is a collection of descriptive information about the performance of youth in the different subjects taught in public schools. A noticeable NAEP publication is the Reading Report Card, which reports descriptive statistics about student's performance in reading at different levels. At a higher level the International Association for the the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) does descriptive studies of the academic achievement of students in many nations including the United States.

The two main types of descriptive research differ by the time the variables are measured. In the first type the variables or the characteristics of a sample are measured at one point in time. In the second type which is called longitudinal a sample is followed over time.

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About this Open PhD

The purpose of this blog is to report the different learning experiences in studies about an Open PhD focused on open learning. The different topics featured are: Educational Research, Educational Technology and Media, Educational Startup, Instructional Design, Open Education and learning. The main focus of this PhD is on open learning specifically the use of the web resources and possibly other informal educational resources for self-directed and independent learning with an emphasis on web 2.0 tools for learning and personal learning networks. It's achieved by skills learning, projects, writing, teaching and research. Skills learning is done by taking different open courses and reading different articles, shared on social medias, educational project pages, curated on appropriated on social media platforms, listed on social media networks and saved on social bookmarks. The author designed many educational projects mostly focused on Open Educational Resources, Open Courseware and Open Education. As an experienced educator certified in math he is taking his educational career on the next level by developping Open Popular University www.openpu.wikidot.com and New Direction Education Services www.ndes.wikidot.com where his educational services are advertised. The author writes and pulishes educational articles on his personal blogs and social media. He also curates several articles on appropriate social media platforms.

Other artifacts used for this PhD are Educational and Professional Portfolio and Open PhD candidacy published in Peer-to-Peer University and Wikiversity . The PhD is by research and publication. The articles on Open learning will be used for the publication of a book on open learning. The next phase will be the developement of a thesis. Meanwile and/or after the publication of the thesis the blog will publish academic research on self-directed learning, comment on this research, publish litterature reviews and original research, essays, original research focused mostly on Action Research. It is the intention of the author to work with supervisors, peers, educators, interested organizations in this innovative PhD to get the most widely recognition. The author is interested in having is work validated or credited by a respected educational institution believing in innovative ways of learning

About Me

Yves Simon is an experienced educator certified in Math, self-directed and lifelong learner interested in various ways of learning and media and web technology resources. His educational background is in Civil Engineering, Math, Physics, Science, languages, Educational Administration, Curriculum and Instruction and open learning. He provides face-to-face and online tutoring and teaching services.He also provides other services such as translation in French and English, Math content development and writing and article writing. Visit his website New Direction Education Services at www.ndes.wikidot.com to contact him about services provided. He is particular engaged in the dissemination of web educational resources and tools for learning.

Educational content curation

Open Popular university brings to the world courses from the most respected universities around the world at the graduate and undergraduate level in the fields of Engineering, Math, Science, Education, Human Sciences, etc, In the future Open Popular university will offer online courses directly from this site. For support, collaboration, contact, donation, etc visit the site at www. openpu.wikidot.com. Your support, collaboration and donations will help this site running. Open Popular University is looking for volunteers to teach online courses and needs funds for paid staff to develop the site, a physical location and materials to fulfill its mission to help thousands of learners, self-learners and educators worldwide. The ambition is to bring the world open courses in this site, demystify the fact that knowledge is the privilege of a few and can only be learned in formal institutions.

Math course by Yves Simon

This is a free math course offered by Yves Simon, certified and experienced math educator. For tutoring online and face-to-face, teaching online and face-to-face in the following subjects: Math, ESL, French and Spanish visit NewDirection Education Services at www.ndes.wikidot.com Calculus course